Chapter 115: The Hokage Loses Another Son!
When the lava hound, as if from hell itself, tore through Chiriku's chest, his eyes, wide with shock, grew even wider, and countless blood vessels burst across the whites of his eyes.
He spat out a mouthful of blood, cooked by the scorching heat, feeling his internal organs instantly turn to ash.
Sensing his life force rapidly draining, Chiriku gritted his teeth. He changed his arm gesture, and the Golden Bell transformed into a Wrathful Myo-o!
The golden chakra quickly shifted to a vibrant crimson. The expression of agony on his face was a final struggle before death. The crimson Wrathful Myo-o, formed of chakra behind Chiriku, began to furiously strike at Uchiha Ikeizumi.
One red fist after another rained down like a storm.
Each one left a dent in Uchiha Ikeizumi's body.
"Asuma!!!"
Chiriku, blood pouring from his mouth and veins bulging in his neck, roared, "This is my last bit of strength! Take the chance now!"
Beside him, Asuma watched with bloodshot eyes as Chiriku's chest was perforated by the lava hound.
But there was no time for grief. He bit down hard, channeling Wind Release chakra into the knuckle knives in his hands. The blades now glowed with a visible, azure chakra.
"Haaa!!!"
Asuma charged forward, bringing his twin blades down in a heavy slash that swiftly severed Uchiha Ikeizumi's lava-formed right arm. "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!!!"
He then exhaled a torrent of gale-force wind, blowing the magma arm far away and kicking up a huge cloud of dust and stones.
"Asuma, get out of my sight if you don't want to die!" a sudden, sinister chuckle rang out, causing Asuma to leap backward.
Kazuma had appeared behind Uchiha Ikeizumi without warning.
His forehead was throbbing with veins as he slammed his hands to the ground.
"Earth Release: Mountain Jutsu!!!"
Rumble, rumble, rumble! The ground beneath them began to shake violently. Two massive, dome-shaped earthen mounds rose up to the left and right of Uchiha Ikeizumi, then swiftly moved to converge in the middle.
With a deafening crash, the two gigantic earth domes slammed into each other, forming a single, towering semi-circular mountain.
Kazuma's hands remained in a sign, his palms pressed directly against the surface of the new mountain.
A web of black sealing runes rapidly spread across the mountain's surface.
Like chains, they completely sealed the entire structure.
"Ninja Art: Heavy Earth Binding Jutsu!!!"
"Hah.." He exhaled heavily, leaping back with a sneer of disdain. "He's a bit tricky, I'll admit. I didn't expect one person to die even with eleven of us. But that's all. My 'Heavy Earth Binding' can even seal summoning beasts over a dozen meters tall with immense strength."
"Next…"
Kazuma completely ignored the lifeless body of Chiriku, who was now collapsing. He glanced at a grief-stricken Asuma, sneered, and turned his attention to the ongoing battle behind him.
"Once we take care of that ninja cat, our lord's mission will be complete. After that, we can take care of Konoha's Hokage."
Before him, a total of eight of the Twelve Guardian Shinobi were cornering the size-doubled ninja cat, Kijirō.
"Hmph. So one of them died, but it just proves that the so-called Lava Release monster isn't as fearsome as the rumors say!"
But as Kazuma took his next step forward, the sneer on his face froze.
He spun around, his eyes filled with disbelief.
"How is that possible?!"
At the same time, Asuma, who was trying to get to Chiriku, stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes locked on the semi-circular mountain.
He watched.
The terrifying heat was turning the thick layer of earth into molten lava. In less than three breaths, the gigantic dome-shaped mountain slumped down like melting butter. The intricate sealing runes covering it washed away like flowing water.
"Kazuma! Your sealing jutsu didn't work!" Asuma's pupils constricted, his tension returning.
"Damn it—"
Kazuma's face was a mask of utter frustration.
In their line of sight, a crimson figure, rippling with lava, stood perfectly unharmed atop the flowing magma. Thick, black smoke poured from his body, and its pungent stench filled both Asuma and Kazuma with a sense of impending dread.
Half of Uchiha Ikeizumi's face was normal, while the other half was completely molten lava. Magma dripped from his body, and the cold, unyielding expression on his face was chillingly clear.
Even more striking were his eyes, which had transformed into crimson Sharingan!
"Hmph," Uchiha Ikeizumi looked up at Kijirō, who was struggling and bleeding from multiple wounds. Seemingly ignoring both Asuma and Kazuma, he spoke to the ninja cat with a cold, detached voice. "Eight seasoned elite jonin ganging up on one ninja cat. That's hardly a fair fight, is it?"
"You..You bastard, Uchiha Ikeizumi!" Kazuma, feeling completely disregarded, had a vein throbbing on his forehead. "I'm standing right here! How can you have the luxury to worry about a ninja cat!?"
Uchiha Ikeizumi's gaze shifted slightly in Kazuma's direction.
The moment his crimson eyes met Kazuma's,
Kazuma felt a bone-chilling cold wash over him! Even though the surrounding air was so hot that he was drenched in sweat, he felt an undeniable, penetrating chill to his core!
"You're quite conspicuous," Uchiha Ikeizumi raised a hand. The right arm that Asuma had painstakingly severed and blown away with a wind jutsu had somehow "grown" back.
"The 'evil' on your head." As Uchiha Ikeizumi raised his right arm, the magma beneath his feet began to surge wildly.
He swiftly wove three hand signs with a single hand.
"Lava Release: Scorching Dragon Blast Jutsu." There was no passionate roar, only a calm, flat statement. But it was enough to put both Kazuma and Asuma on high alert, their faces filled with horror.
A massive magma dragon erupted from the flowing lava at Uchiha Ikeizumi's feet!
Its gigantic head opened wide, revealing ferocious fangs as the roaring magma dragon swooped down on Kazuma and Asuma!
It looked as though it meant to devour them both at once!
The sheer scale of Uchiha Ikeizumi's jutsu startled the eight Guardian Shinobi attacking Kijirō.
"This is bad!"
One of Kazuma's six followers, his pupils constricted, immediately turned and charged toward Uchiha Ikeizumi. "Those of you who specialize in Water Release, come support Kazuma!"
As soon as he spoke, two others followed him.
"Water Release: Water Fang Bullet!!!" x3
Three powerful streams of water merged into a single, overwhelming wave that surged over the heads of Kazuma and Asuma, colliding fiercely with the terrifying, charging magma dragon.
BOOOM!
"So Ikeizumi was indeed ambushed… But the question is, were the attackers really spies from another village?" As he watched the magma dragon from afar, Hiruzen Sarutobi, standing atop the Hokage Building, furrowed his brow, a premonition of bad things to come swirling in his heart.
He had already ordered the ANBU to act immediately, but as the Hokage, he himself had not joined them.
Konoha was already low on high-level combat power. If Uchiha Ikeizumi was temporarily out of the village, and he, the Hokage, also left, the village would likely fall into chaos.
Hiruzen was uneasy about both the spies hidden within Konoha and some of the village's own shinobi.
Especially Uchiha Itachi—
Hiruzen was worried that if he left and came back, he might find the entire Uchiha clan wiped out.
And Uchiha Setsuna—
He was concerned that if he left, Setsuna might don a Hokage haori, set up traps throughout the village, and wait for him to return.
At this thought, a twitch formed at the corner of Hiruzen's mouth.
He realized that all of Konoha's internal problems seemed to stem from the Uchiha!
For a moment, he found himself strangely understanding Danzō's perspective.
"Looks like there are a lot of enemies."
Uchiha Setsuna had also made his way to the highest point of the Uchiha compound, leaning on his cane and observing the distant scene. He narrowed his eyes and murmured, "To create such a commotion, there must be at least a group of elite jonin... Are they all that kid's enemies?"
Uchiha Setsuna was secretly gloating. He would have been delighted if the attackers had managed to kill Uchiha Ikeizumi!
Even if they didn't kill him, forcing him to expose more of his trump cards and give away more intel would be a huge victory for Uchiha Setsuna.
"Elder Setsuna, we should leave the village immediately to support Uchiha Ikeizumi!" However, when a young, radical Uchiha behind him shouted this, the gloating on Setsuna's face instantly froze.
Damn it!
How had [Absolute Justice] managed to brainwash these people?
Uchiha Ikeizumi hadn't even had any direct contact with them, had he?
They had only heard stories of Uchiha Ikeizumi's deeds and learned a little about his so-called extreme [Absolute Justice], and yet they already had such a good impression of the kid?
Why?!
Setsuna's face tightened. Without even looking back, he said in a cold voice, "Hmph! Do you really think Konoha's higher-ups would let our Uchiha shinobi leave the village without a reason? Don't forget, when Fugaku wanted to leave to support Uchiha Ikeizumi last time, that old man Shimura Danzō stopped him.
"Konoha's higher-ups have never trusted the Uchiha clan. It was true back then, and it's still true today. That distrust will not change. Even if you go, they will just stop you."
Uchiha Setsuna skillfully shifted the blame to Konoha's higher-ups.
In reality, he simply had no desire to help Uchiha Ikeizumi.
"Fugaku, aren't you going to lead the Police Force members to help Ikeizumi?"
Uchiha Mikoto asked her husband.
"We can't help anymore." Fugaku's expression was a mix of complicated feelings and indescribable conflict. He sighed deeply and said, "If Ikeizumi hadn't caused so many problems, I might have been able to lead the Police Force to support him. But now, he has made the higher-ups extremely wary. Even the Hokage himself won't meet with him alone.
"If I were to lead the Police Force out of Konoha to support Ikeizumi, the higher-ups would see a very close connection between the Uchiha clan and Ikeizumi. Their wariness of him would then transfer to the entire Uchiha clan.
"This would cause the Uchiha, who are already on the edge of an abyss, to fall completely into a chasm of mutual distrust with the higher-ups."
Fugaku paused before continuing, "This is also one of the reasons I don't want Sasuke to believe in [Absolute Justice]. The closer the Uchiha get to Ikeizumi, the more dangerous it becomes for us."
Mikoto's eyes widened in disbelief after hearing this.
She couldn't help but say, "Fugaku, Ikeizumi is a member of the Uchiha clan by birth! What's this talk about a close connection? Why would the higher-ups implicate the entire Uchiha because of Ikeizumi?"
"Fugaku, have you become too sensitive?" Mikoto couldn't understand her husband's behavior of ruthlessly distancing himself from Uchiha Ikeizumi.
"Mikoto, your perspective is too narrow." Fugaku slowly repeated a phrase Uchiha Itachi had once said to him.
Fugaku fell silent for a moment before continuing, "It's not that I've become sensitive; it's that Itachi—he is already stirring."
Uchiha Mikoto: "!!!"
"And the reason for Itachi's agitation is Ikeizumi's extreme actions, which make him feel that the Uchiha clan is completely out of control. The only way to make Itachi calm down might be to completely cut ties with Ikeizumi, though I don't even know if that will work."
Fugaku's sigh made him seem as if he had aged several years.
Mikoto felt lost.
One was her eldest son, the other her husband. She couldn't understand either of their ideologies or actions. This father and son always talked about how extreme Uchiha Ikeizumi was.
But it seemed they didn't realize that they, too, were being quite extreme.
Mikoto opened her mouth.
But no words came out.
Outside Konoha.
The moment the overwhelming torrent of water collided with the magma dragon, surging, scalding white steam billowed down onto Asuma and Kazuma. The intense heat made both of their expressions change instantly.
They retreated hastily, not even having time to retrieve Chiriku's body, and could only watch as the searing steam cooked Chiriku's corpse.
"Hiss—"
The pain on his skin made Asuma gasp. He glanced down at his arm, which was already bright red, a clear burn from the rolling steam.
When he looked up, he saw the crimson magma dragon pushing the torrent of water back, inch by inch!
The combined effort of three elite jonin couldn't even stand up to a single Lava Release jutsu from Uchiha Ikeizumi!
"He's already at the Kage level!"
Asuma gritted his teeth, forcing out the words. He finally understood why his old man was so hesitant, stubbornly refusing to confront Uchiha Ikeizumi even after the man had killed his eldest son.
The terrifying power of Uchiha Ikeizumi was likely the very reason the old man didn't dare to start a fight!
"Hm?!"
Suddenly, Asuma keenly noticed that the magma glowing on the dragon's body seemed to be intensifying.
"Look out!!!"
Just as his desperate shout rang out, the magma dragon, glowing with a crimson light, erupted like a volcano! The incredibly powerful shockwave shattered the rushing water, showering the surrounding area for hundreds of meters with hot, pouring rain. The forest floor felt as though it were being hit by a scalding downpour.
The bursting magma dragon split into countless magma projectiles. Each one, the size of a small house, trailed a fiery tail and a thick, acrid black smoke as it shot toward the three Guardian Shinobi who had used the Water Release jutsu!
One of them, caught completely off guard, was struck head-on by an astonishingly fast magma projectile.
His flesh and bone were instantly engulfed by the lava.
Asuma couldn't even tell if the man had been vaporized by the magma or burned to a crisp.
Another one scrambled to dodge, but he was too slow.
The shockwave from a magma projectile hitting the ground sent him flying, his body slamming heavily into a tree, embedding him in the trunk.
"Gah!!!"
He coughed up a mouthful of blood. Half of his skin was already charred black from the heat of the lava, and the rotting flesh was fused with his clothes.
The last of the three finally managed to frantically dodge several of the incoming magma projectiles.
Seeing his two companions dead and one seriously injured, his face was filled with a sense of relief mixed with horror.
But in the very next second, before he could celebrate his survival, he suddenly felt the ground beneath his feet tremble slightly.
He looked down, his face changing dramatically, and saw cracks appearing in the earth, with a faint glow of magma flowing within them!
"…This is bad!"
BOOOM!!!
The ground within a ten-meter radius of him collapsed and shattered, and a ten-meter-wide torrent of magma erupted from below, instantly swallowing his body.
He didn't even have time to scream or to use any other ninjutsu or taijutsu.
He was killed on the spot!
"You bastard, Uchiha!!!" Kazuma's reaction was even more heartbroken and enraged than Asuma's, because all three of the fallen Guardian Shinobi had been his supporters, the ones who wanted to depose the Hokage!
"Kazuma!!!" Asuma's shout made the enraged Kazuma suddenly aware of the danger.
In the next moment, a pair of crimson Sharingan appeared in Kazuma's line of sight. The genjutsu from the Three-Tomoe Sharingan was cast into his mind. Kazuma's senses of touch, hearing, smell, sight, and taste were all affected and thrown into chaos.
In his panic and desperation, Kazuma slapped his hands together, trying to disrupt the chakra in his body to break the genjutsu.
But as he regained a shred of his senses, Kazuma suddenly felt his lower jaw being grasped by five fingers.
When his horrified vision finally returned to normal, he saw Uchiha Ikeizumi's magma-covered form. The thing gripping his jaw was Ikeizumi's lava-arm!
"Sizzle—"
"Sizzle—"
The sound of his flesh being cooked by the lava was horrifyingly clear. Uchiha Ikeizumi's magma-hand passed through his face as easily as if it were a block of butter.
....
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